Canfor says no impact from Howe Sound filing

Jan 31, 2008. /Lesprom Network/. Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Co's filing for creditor protection will have no material affect on parent Canfor, a Canfor spokesman Lee Coonfer said to Reuters. The court filing this week was a procedural move needed to win approval to extend the terms of a loan as part of Howe Sound's latest financial restructuring effort. Canfor co-owns the Howe Sound unit along with Japan's Oji Paper, but wrote off its investment in the unit in 1998. The filing will not change the ownership structure, Lee Coonfer said. The pulp and newsprint operation in Port Mellon, British Columbia, has been dogged by debt and high capital costs since its start in 1988. It also had its finances restructured in 2001. Canfor Corporation is a leading Canadian integrated forest products company.